Low Carbon Network News: Alow-carbon lifestyle means cutting carbon dioxide emissions and living a life characterized by low energy, low consumption and low spending. At present, this lifestyle is being accepted by many Chinese people who are currently living a low-carbon life.

Pan Huiqiang lives in Hangzhou and is an advocator of the “low-carbon lifestyle”. Pan said, “If possible, I avoid taking the elevator, commute to work by bus or bicycle, use both sides of every piece of paper, and save electricity. Many of my colleagues are interested in a lowcarbon lifestyle now.”

Many people like to post their low-carbon diaries or low-carbon tips on the Internet and call on more people to live a low-carbon life by turning off electrical appliances when going out, commuting on foot or by bicycle and subway, using e-mails and MSN instead of printers and fax machines.

In Shanghai, there is a “Green Hotel”. Transformed from an old post office, the hotel’s material all came from its former building. At the reception desk, a computer can calculate carbon emissions during each guest’s journey. It then turns the amount of emissions into the quantity of trees needed to offset them. After paying a given sum to the hotel, trees will be planted in north China’s Inner Mongolia in the near future.

In Beijing’s Badaling region, a carbon sink forest has been developed. If someone wants to balance out their carbon dioxide emissions, they canbuy a part of the carbon sink or plant trees there.

The city of Baoding, in HebeiProvince, is now turning into a solar city. The electricity supply of every traffic light in the city comes from solar energy. The same method is also used for the lamps along the roads. Solar panels have even been installed outside some residents’ apartments. Within the past three years, nearly 2 billion yuan have been invested in the city. More than 16,000 tons of carbon emissions have been eliminated.

Meanwhile, some cities have even launched environmental campaigns at their auto exhibitions. Su Yi, an environmental volunteer, said, “In winter cars should warm up their engines before acceleration to reduce gas consumption.”

As the threat of climate change becomes more apparent, the Chinese people are rethinking their lifestyles and making responsible choices to build China into a low-carbon society.